Pianist Lukas Geniušas solo concert

 

 

The daytime concerts of the RĪGA JŪRMALA Music Festival invite new talent from the classical music world who, after victories in prestigious competitions, are now active performers on the world’s leading stages.

Pianist and silver medal winner of the Tchaikovsky and Chopin competitions, Lukas Geniušas continues the Russian piano tradition at the highest level. “Geniušas plays with a prizewinner’s brilliance, yet with a mature ability to recreate a work’s architecture, and an expressiveness that doesn’t overtly draw attention to itself,” writes British newspaper The Guardian.

 

Concert programme:
Frédéric CHOPIN Mazurkas
Frédéric CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58
Sergei PROKOFIEV 10 Pieces for Piano op. 12
Leonid DESYATNIKOV 12 Preludes from Songs of Bukovina

 

Lukas Geniušas (1990) is recognised as one of the brightest stars among today’s active concert pianists.

 

Geniušas was born in Moscow to a musical family - his father Petras Geniušas and mother Xenia Knorre were both pianists. Lukas was educated at the Moscow Conservatory under legendary Russian pianist Vera Gornostayeva, his grandmother. Having begun to play the piano at the age of five, Lukas understood early on that having this pedigree came with its own challenges. He also realised that his goal would be to represent his country and continue the Russian tradition of playing piano at the highest level.

 

The true weight of this responsibility was only revealed after his own first achievements – victories at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (silver medal, 2010), the International German Piano Award (2012), and the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (silver medal, 2015). Critics reported that this self-awareness gave Geniušas a tranquil inner confidence and maturity. The unmistakable signs of the heights of Russian piano playing – flawless technique, complete surrender and unsurpassed emotion when performing romantic music – are strongly expressed in his playing.

 

Thought-provoking and impressive – these are characteristic of Geniušas’ performances and creatively compiled concert and album programmes. His repertoire includes music from Baroque to contemporary, as well as extensive monographic cycles – all of Beethoven’s concertos, Chopin’s 24 etudes and 3 sonatas, Rachmaninoff’s 24 preludes, Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis, and the piano concertos of Arvo Pärt and John Adams. He also enjoys playing in chamber ensembles. Since 2015, Geniušas has collaborated with the Looking at the Stars charity  inToronto, which aims to bring classical music into culturally-deprived locations such as prisons, hospitals and homeless shelters.

 

With concerts taking place in the historic cities of Riga and Jurmala, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival features four weekends throughout the summer. A leading international orchestra and conductor anchor each weekend, offering a range of symphonic concerts and recitals that feature leading stars and young up-and-coming talent.

 

More information: www.riga-jurmala.com